I don't think any Rush fan is happy about the Kirk trade. I mean Aaron Bold **** the bed in the playoffs and was erratic and inconsistent all year long so it makes sense that the Rush are looking to upgrade, but why upgrade to another inconsistent goalie (if an upgrade at all)? Derek Keenan is the best GM in lacrosse and the team owes all it's success to him, but even Sam Presti made mistakes, and Keenan is going to be kicking himself over this one if Kirk reverts back to his on and off ways. They basically paid the price for Dillon Ward to acquire Evan Kirk.

From what I gather from Keenan's interviews, there are three main reasons for the high price:
1) The 2017 1st rounder was included because it would've likely been the expansion pick, which makes sense at first glance. But by having that first rounder bait a pick, it would spare a player like Sorichetti or Knight from getting taken. Keenan potentially costed himself another high value asset for no reason.
2) The Rush need cap space in the coming years and Bold wasn't going to sign for anything less than the league max, and on a team with so many players reaching UFA age in the next 2/3 years, the Rush need to set themselves up long-term. But then you consider that Kirk is at UFA age now too and his contract situation is going to be every bit as difficult to work around as Bold's.
3) John Lafontaine was traded to make room for Matt Hossack, who was excellent in the few games he did play last season. This is the only reason that made sense to me. However, this just brings me back to the 2017 1st rounder: not having that pick greatly increases the chance that Hossack gets taken in the expansion draft.